Ask Pat

Am I gay?

Q)I am a 20-year-old male and am a virgin. I have felt like I have been in "love" and have had various crushes and liked a lot of girls. Still I have yet to have a serious girlfriend, though. But the way that I get sexually aroused is my thoughts and pictures of male nudity, not female. I have been aroused by girls, but I have even been in the situation where we are fooling around and I find it hard to get aroused. When just looking at a guy without a shirt on arouses me. Does this mean I am gay? I don't feel too comfortable around gay men, and usually after masturbation the thought of being gay goes away pretty quick. It's kind of like while I'm becoming aroused I want to jump on a guy, but once I'm done, its like oh. Ok. What does all this mean? And there's nobody I can trust to talk about it with, and no $ for a psychologist...

A)

This is a very serious concern and it is good that you are asking about it and exploring your confusion. Sexual orientation is a very complicated issue and many people struggle with it at various times in their lives. It is clear that you have some confusion and concerns around this issue and you will probably want to find a professional to talk to about this - there are many community agencies that can help with payment. The concern you share about being attracted to someone of the same gender is very common. This does not necessarily mean that you are gay. It does however signal that you may be gay or bisexual. It is very difficult to determine whether or not you are gay or bisexual without further assessment and counseling. It does appear that your feelings are somewhat "ego-dystonic" which means that your attraction to men goes against something inside you that is saying this is wrong. This feeling may come from society, your family, your religion or your own fears of being in a same-sex relationship. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to know if you are gay, bisexual, heterosexual or just curious about all of it - given your lack of experience with sex. Again, I highly recommend that you find some professional person (not usually clergy) to discuss this further; it is simply too important not to!